MMAjunkie’s 'Submission of the Month' for April 2014

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMAjunkie takes a look at the best submissions from April 1-30. Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMAjunkie’s “Submission of the Month” award for April 2014.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice for “Submission of the Month.”

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THE NOMINEES

Agnieszka Niedzwiedz def. Gemma Hewitt at Cage Warriors 67

Agnieszka Niedzwiedz wanted to show off some of her ground skills at Cage Warriors 67, and she did just that by styling on bantamweight Gemma Hewitt from the top before locking in a fight-ending triangle choke. The contest was all Niedzwiedz as she pursued the finish from beginning to end.

Marcin Held def. Derek Anderson at Bellator 117

Grappling ace Marcin Held scored a second-round submission over a very tough and previously undefeated Derek Anderson at Bellator 117. The action was contested on both the feet on the ground, and both fighters had brief moments of success. Held eventually got his opponent to the canvas and locked in a tight triangle choke. Anderson battled hard to last through the hold, but he was eventually forced to tap to the technique.

Donald Cerrone def. Edson Baraboza at UFC on FOX 11

Edson Barboza was getting the better of Donald Cerrone on the feet at UFC on FOX 11, which means “Cowboy” needed to do something to alter the course of the fight. That moment came when he dropped Barboza with a punch the Brazilian didn’t see coming and pounced on his injured foe to finish the fight with a slick rear-naked choke.

Joseph Benavidez def. Tim Elliott at UFC 172

Joseph Benavidez was forced to work hard against a durable Tim Elliott before he locked up the patented Team Alpha Male guillotine choke at UFC 172. This wasn’t any guillotine choke, though, as Benavidez trapped Elliott’s arms and forced him to tap out with his feet in one of the more unique submission finishes in UFC history.

Luke Rockhold def. Tim Boetsch at UFC 172

Luke Rockhold ran through Tim Boetsch at UFC 172 in a way no one has before. All it took was one mistake from “The Barbarian” before he was locked up in Rockhold’s web trying to fend off a reverse triangle choke as well as a kimura. Boetsch did his best to battle off Rockhold’s advances, but ultimately the combination of the choke and the arm lock was too much to overcome.

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THE WINNER

The guillotine choke is one of the most common submissions seen in MMA competition.

So when Joseph Benavidez (20-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) forced Tim Elliott (10-5-1 MMA, 2-3 UFC) to flail around the octagon like a fish out of water due to the technique, it was a finish that greatly differed from any guillotine choke seen inside the octagon in the past.

It was Benavidez’s first submission victory since 2010 and his first under the UFC banner, a result he admits he was searching for going into the fight.

“I knew it would probably end up to the ground,” Benavidez told MMAjunkie. “I knew a good old fashion punch to the head just isn’t going to work on this guy. I was pretty sure I’d have to do something different than punch him in the face. I wanted to get the fight to the ground and he definitely encouraged that with his takedowns.

“I did a lot of concentrating on the grappling in this fight. My intention is always to finish and I knew the ground was a place where I had an advantage and could finish him.”

While Elliott’s last submission loss came back in 2009, Benavidez had confidence he could force a tap-out. What he didn’t expect, though, was to do it in the fashion he did, trapping Elliott’s arms inside his legs and giving him nowhere to escape.

“Right when I came out on top in the scramble I knew I had him,” Benavidez said. “The position I was in was side control, that’s my position. I heard my corner say that was my position. I waited for him to stop moving and I began working my submission game, which I feel is somewhat underrated because I haven’t been able to use it in the UFC thus far. I’m great on the ground and I looked at the clock, I said, ‘OK, I can take my time and work a submission.’ Then it ended up going pretty well from there.”

Not only was Elliott unable to escape from the choke, but he also had no free hands to indicate to the referee that he had given up. Elliott instead opted to submit by tapping his feet on the mat, something Benavidez was somewhat surprised by.

“That was wild the way that happened,” Benavidez said. “At first I knew he was struggling to try and get out, but when he got into the panic mode I knew it was for a tap. I kept squeezing until the referee found out – I think he did a good job. Of course he was struggling, but all he could do was with his legs. I think everyone realized when they stopped the fight that it had turned from a struggle to get out to a struggle to tell the ref, ‘Hey, I’m done. I’m about to go out, get me out of here.’”

“I’ve watched that submission a few times now and it’s kind of frightening. A submission is never really scary, but for the guy, I imagine, it must have been pretty terrifying. He couldn’t tap, didn’t know if the ref was going to say anything. I picture being in his position and that was just terrible. It must have been like having a straight jacket on and then getting thrown into a swimming pool for a few seconds and just panicking. It’s awesome the way it turned out like that. I’m happy the ref caught it. It would have been cool if he went from flailing uncontrollably to limp. That would have looked funny, but I think it’s great the ref realized he needed to get him out of there.”

There have been a lot of firsts inside the UFC octagon, but Benavidez forcing Elliott to tap out with his feet was something that had previously never been accomplished. Without even taking into account that he badly needed a win after suffering a knockout loss in his last fight, the nature of the finish alone was a special moment for the 29-year-old.

“I think it’s a one-of-a-kind submission,” Benavidez said. “I know Joe Silva, Joe Rogan and a lot of other people out there never, ever have seen that in the octagon and it’s never happened in the octagon. It’s almost a one-of-a-kind submission because they haven’t seen it and might not again. I came up with the cool name for it: The ‘Joa-Constrictor.’”

Benavidez’s victory at UFC 172 was the ninth submission finish of his MMA career. While a lot of those wins came against quality opposition, Benavidez feels this one ranks near the top in terms of his favorite performances, and MMAjunkie agrees, which is why the fight was deemed April’s “Submission of the Month.”

“This is probably right after the Miguel Torres submission,” Benavidez said. “The Miguel Torres one is No. 1. He’d never been tapped, he was this iconic guy at the time and I was always just looking forward to fighting him and I did and I submitted him. The epicness, the blood and that was a huge moment for my career, but the Tim Elliott one ranks right behind that.”